Freight container



2 1940- B. F. FITCH ET AL FREIGHT CONTAINER Filed Oct. 13, 1939 Fly} 223 IITII"!!! Patented Oct. 22, 1940 FREIGHT CONTAINER 7 Benjamin F.Fitch, Zaccheus Meade Lane, Fairfield County, Conn, and Ragnar A Norbom,Nutley, N.J., assignors to Motor Terminals, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio,acorporation of Ohio Application October 13, 1939, Serial No. 299,326

v12 Claims. (01. ass-st) A system of handling package freight by meansof demountable bodies which may be carried interchangeably on highwaytrucks, railway cars or vehicles, and lifted with their con- 5 tainedloads from one such vehicle to another for transportation, has manyadvantages in expediting the speed of transportation and reducing thecost of shipping from consignor to consignee, and reducing the loss dueto pilferage or breakage.

l In a system of this character it is desirable that the liftingmechanism which raises and transfers the body be readily engagedwith thebody at four points corresponding to the four corners of a horizontalrectangle. Lift hooks attached to 15 the body adjacent the eaves, twoon'one side and two on the other, havebe'en found to provide for theready engagement of the hoisting mechanism. Such hooks, however, maybecome bent or damaged in use, and it is desirable to provide 20 meansfor the ready replacement of the hooks themselves, wherever the body islocated, without requiring skilled labor, or the sending of the body toa repair shop.

Our invention accomplishes the above'object 25 by providing on the bodyitself adjacent the eaves a very efficient, permanently attachedanchorage for the hook, and forming the hook in such manner that it maybe effectively engaged with such anchorage and held thereto in use, butmay be 30 readily removed therefrom whenever desired.

Our invention comprises the means by which we accomplish the aboveresult, as illustrated in the drawing hereof, and hereinafter more fullydescribed and set out in its essential characteristics' in the claims.

In the drawing, Fig. l is a side elevation of a *demountable body,provided with our removable 'lift hook, and permanent anchoragetherefor,

this view showing'also a suitable hoist cradle 40 engaged with thehooks; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation on a larger scale of thehook and anchorage and the intermediate adjacent portionof the body;Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through part of the anchorage andpart of the 45 shank of the hook in a plane indicated by the line 3-3 onFig. 2; Fig. 4 is a perspectiveof the hook shank; Fig. 5 is aperspective of the socket constituting the anchorage for the hook; Fig.6

.is a horizontal cross-section through the upper .50 portion of thesocket as indicated by the line 5 5 on Fig. 5. 7 Figs. 1, 2 and 3indicate at H] the side wall of a demountable body, it being understoodthat this body may be rectangular in plan having a s5 suitable floor(notshown), parallel sides l0,.par-

allel ends H, and a roof l2. The side wall as shown is provided with apair of panelled doors l5, hingedly mounted. v

The body sides are provided with braces between the door frame and theends of the body. 5 As shown, these braces comprise a vertical strip IEdirectly in line with the application of the lifting force, and diagonalbrace bars I! extending downwardly from a point near the top of thestrips IE to regions comparatively nearthe ends 10 of the body andcomparatively nearthe end of the door frame, respectively.

The side walls H] are preferably of sheet steel,

and the vertical strip and brace bars are welded to such steelplate.Theiintermediate brace 16 is preferably a flat strap extending from thesave to the base of the car. The braces I! are preferably angle b-ars,-one flange of which is welded to the side sheet of the body, with theother flange projecting at right angles to the 20 body, these angle barsbeing rights and lefts so that the projecting flanges are adjacent eachother.

Between the two adjacent flanges 18, near their upper ends, I mount thesocket 20 for the lift hook. This socket is-a metallcasting or forgingof the general form indicated in Fig. 5; it receives and holds the lifthook 3% by reason of peculiar interengaging shoulders on the seat andhook, which will now be described. The socket 20 which is of suchmaterial that it may bewelded to the body side and braces, is an openbox-like member in the form shown in Fig.15. As there s'hown, itcomprises the following .parts,,all integral with each other, name- 1y;a plate-like body portion 2i, which intermediately is offset backwardlyto provide the back plate 22, and the connecting webs 23. The channelbetween the webs 23 is closed by a web 24 at the top, and by a hollowprojecting boss 25 at the bottom. At opposite sides of the boss are apair of projecting wings 26 which lead from the edges of the plate-likeportion 2!. Each wing is thickened gradually, as one measuresdownwardly, as shownat 2'1, and terminates in 5 an abrupt horizontalshoulder 28 at the bottom.

Each shoulder is intermedi-ately interrupted by an upwardly extendingnotch 29 formed therein.

The hook 30 is nearly flat, except that it converges toward theedgeopposite its opening, as shown at 3 I, in Fig. 3. The hook has aflatshank 32, at the lower portion .of which are laterally projecting ledges33, the upper faces of which are horizontal. On the upper face of thesel es T9111??? i ii ml r th th n wiihfifi the shank, are parallel-sidedbosses 34. Near its bottom the shank 32 is recessed on opposite sides,by approximately semi-circular recesses 35. Between these recesses inthe central plane of the hook is a thinner, downwardly ext-ending eyeportion 36. The opening 31 of this eye is in line with the center of theshank, and with the highest point of the hook opening.

The dimensions of the socket and shank above described are such that theshank may stand between and substantially in engagement with the innervertical face of the widest portion of the socket wings. In activeposition, the ledges 33 of the shank will standbeneath and engage theunder-faceof the shoulders 23 of the socket, and the bosses 3 1 risingfrom the ledges will occupy the notches 2e, and the opening Sill willregister with the opening of the boss 25 of the socket.

The socket member above described is permanently attached to the side ofthe body of container. The flare of the two side wings 2% on theirexterior is at the same angle as the flare of the projecting flanges itof the diagonal braces H on the bc dy side. The socket is put in placebetween these cliagonal-braces and shoved upwardly in tight contact withthe flanges thereof, and is welded to such flanges while the back plateof the socket member is welded to the bracing strap It of the side. Thissocket thus becomes permanently attached, and effectively held to thebody side.

The recess 35 in the shank has sufiicient clearance over the boss 25that the hook may be shoved laterally into place between the wings ofthe socket with the bosses 34 on the hook just below the bottom plane ofthe shoulders 23; then, when the bosses 34 come into alignment with thenotches 29, the hook may be lifted to carry those bosses into thenotches. This brings the opening 3'? of the hook shank into registrationwith the central bore of the boss 25. Such bore is intermediatelythreaded, as shown at dl. When the hook is in place, a cap screw 45 ispassed through the eye and screwed into the thread ii of the boss 25. Asuitable lock washer 52 prevents inadvertent working out of the capscrew.

It will be seen that the vertical stresses as the body is being liftedor supported are taken directly from the hock shank and its ledges tothe socket member, thence to the body side and braces. The engagement ofthe vertical inner faces of the thickened socket wings with the verticaledges of the hook shank prevent shifting or tipping in a longitudinaldirection of the hook; while lateral stresses on the hook are taken careof by the engagement of the inner face of its shank with the strap l5,and by the engagement of the bosses 34 with the walls of the socketnotches. Accordingly, all of such stresses are resisted independently ofthe bolt or cap screw 40, which need merely serve to hold the hook inplace when it is idle.

The mounting of the hook socket between the converging brace bars l! andthe welding of the socket to the bars and to the body side makes a veryeffective, permanent attachment of the socket to the side, so thatlifting stresses are readily distributed from the hook to the socket andalong the brace bars to the floor frame of the body.

It will be noticed that recesses 35 in the shank adjacent the eye aremade on both sides of the hook, with the result that the hook isreversible, and may be mounted in the socket with either face of theshank inwardly; that is to say With the hook faced toward either end ofthe body, as desired.

With our invention, in the case of a damaged hook, it is a Very simplematter for a workman at any location, and by the mere useof a suitablewrench, to unscrew the bolt 40, remove the hook and replace it by a newhook, and restore the bolt.

We claim:

1. A demountable truck body provided with a permanently securedanchorage, a detachable hook having a shank formed with a projection tounderhang a portion of said anchorage, and means for holding the shankin coaction with the anchorage, whereby lifting stresses on the hook areautomatically passed to the anchorage and then to the body.

2. A demountable container provided with a permanently secured socketwith-an open side, a hook having a shank adapted to be passed laterallyinto the socket and formed to underhang a portion thereof, and means forholding the shank in place in the socket.

3. The combination of a container having converging braces on its side,a hook anchorage secured to the container side and arranged to engagethe adiacent faces of the braces, and a hook adapted for removableattachment to the anchorage.

4. The combination of a container, a hook socket secured to thecontainer and having a back with projecting wings and an open front anda hook having a shank adapted to stand between the wings and havingprojecting ledges adapted to underhang portions of the wings.

5. The combination'of a container having a ve tical side, a pair ofconverging braces secured to the side adjacent each other near the top.a hook socket having flaring opposite edge faces, said edge facesengaging the braces and secured thereto, the socket providing downwardlyfacing shoulders, and a hook having a downwardly extending shank adaptedto occupy the socket and formed with projecting ledges at its oppositeedges, the ledges being adapted to stand beneat-h said shoulders.

6. The combination of a container having a vertical side, a hook socketsecured to said side and having spacially arranged projecting wingswhich provide downwardly facing shoulders, a hook having a downwardlyextending shank substantially filling the space between the wings, saidshank having projecting ledges at its opposite edges, the ledges beingadapted to stand beneath said shoulders, and means for holding the shankfixedly within the socket.

'7. The combination of a container having a vertical side, a pair ofconverging braces secured to the side adjacent each other near the top,a hook socket having a flat back and flaring opposite edge faces, saidback being welded to the container side and said edge faces welded tothe braces, a hook having a downwardly extending shank adapted to occupythe socket with a projection on the shank underhanging a shoulder on thesocket, and means for holding the shank fixedly within the socket.

8. The combination of a container, a hook socket secured thereto andhaving spaced wings providing downwardly facing shoulders, a hook havinga downwardly extending shank with projecting ledges at its oppositeedges, the ledges being adapted to stand beneath the shoulders on thesocket, and coacting bosses and notches associated with the shouldersand ledges, to restrict movement of the shank away from the body side.

9. The combination of a container, a hook socket secured to the wallthereof, and having a pair of spaced outwardly projecting wings, saidwings having shoulders on their undersides provided with notches, and'ahook having ashank adapted to stand between the wings, the shank havingoppositely projecting ledges adapted to lie beneath the shoulders of thesocket, and the ledges having upwardly extending bosses adapted tooccupy the notches.

10. The combination of a container, a hook socket secured to the wallthereof, and having a pair of spaced outwardly projecting wings, saidwings having downwardly facing shoulders, a hook having a shank adaptedto stand between the wings, the shank having oppositelyprojecting ledgesadapted to lie beneath the shoulders of the socket, the socket beingformed with an outwardly projecting hollow boss and the shank havinganeye the opening of which is adapted to register with the opening ofthe boss when the shank is in place, and a bolt occupying the openingsof the eye and bossto prevent separation of the parts.

11. The combination of a container, a socket member secured thereto andhaving outwardly projecting wings, each with a thickened portion on itsinner side providing an abrupt downwardly facing shoulder, and a hookhaving a shank substantially rectangular in cross-section the shanklying between the thickened portion of the wings, the shank havingledges at its opposite edges adapted to project beneath the thickenedportion of the wings and engaging the same, there being bosses andnotches on the wings and ledges to prevent movement of the shank awayfrom the body side when thebosses are in the notches, the socket andshank being provided with a hollow boss and an eye which registers withthe boss when the shank is in place, and a bolt occupying the eye andboss to lock the positioning hook in the socket.

12. The combination of a container having a vertical side, a pair ofdiagonally positioned angle bars welded to the side, said barsconverging upwardly and being comparatively close to each other adjacentthe eaves of a container, a metal socket member between the bars andwelded to the container side and having outwardly projecting diagonallyfaced wings welded to the adjacent fianges of the angle bars, each winghaving a thickened portion on. its inner side providing an abruptdownwardly facing shoulder, and a hook having a shank substantiallyrectangular in cross-section the shank lying between the thickenedportion of the wings, the shank having ledges at its opposite edgesadapted to project beneath the thickened portion of the shanks andengaging the same, there being upwardly extending bosses on the ledgesand. coacting notches in said thickened portions to prevent movement ofthe shank away from the body side when the bosses are in the notches,the socket being provided with a hollow boss and the shank with an eyewhich registers with the boss when the shank is in place, and a boltoccupying the eye and boss to lock the positioning hook in the socket.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH. RAGNAR A. NORBOM.

